Trump Seeks Billions of Dollars to Counter North Korean Missiles

The spending request designates $4 billion of the total to support "additional efforts to detect, defeat, and defend against any North Korean use of ballistic missiles against the United States, its deployed forces, allies, or partners"

Russia Probe Looms as Trump Heads To Asia

President Trump kicked off an 11 day trip to Asia Friday, still frustrated with the Russia investigation. "A lot of people are disappointed in the Justice Department - including me," the president said before his departure. (Published Friday, Nov. 3, 2017)

The Trump administration is seeking nearly $6 billion to pay for urgent missile defense improvements to counter the threat from North Korea, increased U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan and fast repairs to Navy ships in the Asia-Pacific theater.

The budget request delivered to Capitol Hill on Monday coincided with tough words for Pyongyang from President Donald Trump during the first stop of his lengthy Asia trip. Trump sought to ratchet up pressure on North Korea by refusing to rule out eventual military action and declaring that the United States "will not stand" for North Korea menacing America or its Asian allies.

Trump denounced North Korea as "a threat to the civilized" for pursuing nuclear weapons and the development of the long-range ballistic missiles to deliver them.

The spending request designates $4 billion of the total to support "additional efforts to detect, defeat, and defend against any North Korean use of ballistic missiles against the United States, its deployed forces, allies, or partners," according to the document. That includes current and projected threats to the U.S. homeland, Guam, South Korea and Japan.

Trump Shifts From Aggressor to Negotiator on North Korea

In an address in Seoul, President Donald Trump showed a willingness to negotiate with North Korea, a stark shift of tone from his tough stance at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe just the day before.

(Published Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017)

A large chunk of the money would be used for the construction of an additional ground-based interceptor field at Fort Greely, Alaska; the initial procurement of 20 new ground-based interceptors; ship-based missiles; and interceptors for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, a U.S. mobile anti-missile system.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Monday that "all the name calling and all the chest beating" by Trump isn't helpful and may actually be increasing the risks of confrontation with North Korea. Van Hollen said Trump's rhetoric also serves the interests of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by elevating his status "in an international yelling match" with the U.S. president.

Van Hollen is co-sponsoring bipartisan sanctions legislation that would target Chinese banks and other financial institutions found to be assisting North Korea in evading existing financial penalties.

The sanctions bill, which the Senate Banking Committee will consider on Tuesday, also would punish companies that knowingly import coal, iron, lead and seafood products from North Korea. Those goods are estimated to be worth more than $1 billion — about one-third of the country's estimated $3 billion in exports in 2016.

Roughly $1.2 billion in the request would allow the Defense Department to deploy an additional 3,500 U.S. troops to Afghanistan as part of Trump's new strategy for the country where the U.S. has been fighting since 2001, according to the budget request. Trump in August unveiled his new plan for the 16-year Afghan war, declaring that American troops would "fight to win" by attacking enemies, "crushing" al-Qaida and preventing terrorist attacks against Americans.

About $700 million of the spending package would go to the Navy to make repairs to the USS John S. McCain and USS Fitzgerald. Both ships from the Pacific-based 7th Fleet were damaged in deadly collisions that led to eight top Navy officers, including the 7th Fleet commander, being fired from their jobs

Clerk Pulls Out Machete on Would-Be Robber

A would-be robber armed with a knife had a surprise in store when an Alabama store clerk pulled out a machete in defense. The two's brief knife fight was caught on camera before the clerk runs out to damage the robber's car.

According to police, suspect Seth Holcomb walked up to the counter to make a purchase. He leaves the store and then comes back in as if to make a second purchase. Then, he pulled out a knife at the counter. What he didn't expect was that the clerk would pull out a machete of his own.

(Published Wednesday, March 20, 2019)

The USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker collided near Singapore in August, leaving 10 U.S. sailors dead. And seven sailors died in June when the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship collided off Japan.